Chevalier Dr. Kamal Haasanin Mayyam - Part 9

[pushpak]

இது எந்த படம்? அதுவும் 18 சென்டர்களில் 200 நாட்களா?

Ek Duje Ke Liye original

[Russelljpv]

Maro Charithra - Telugu

[Raajjaa]

தெலுங்குகாரர்கள் நம்மளை விட சினிமா பைத்தியங்களா இருப்பாங்க போல. 18 சென்டர்ல 200 நாட்கள். நம்ப முடியவில்லை.

[Avadi to America]

I remember watching Sathya in VCR... One of my friends family owned video shop and i used to go to watch movies... Working in video shop was a dream job at the time...

[Avadi to America]

last week i was watching Nammavar in youtube...though it was a revisit but the movie was interesting and songs are good... it was interesting to see srividya..

[avavh3]

VR2 or Thoonga Vanam, which will release first?

when amar hain goes to floors?

what are his future projects?

two movies in a year is enough for me

[Adox]

Interesting interview. He answers questions on UV, controversies and remakes etc.

Actor Kamal Haasan's new film Papanasam has opened to positive applause from critics and audiences. With director Jeethu Joseph giving a new sheen to the remake of Malayalam film Drishyam, Papanasam also marks Kamal playing a very ‘common man’ with none of the fuss or burden of stardom.

But then, Kamal has of late never been using his stardom for box office success, instead focusing on writing, and acting in movies that challenge him as an actor and give him the satisfaction of impactful story-telling. His films therefore do not come with the ‘art versus commercial’ tag, rather they are lauded for touching a chord with audiences.

Papanasam follows the success of Uttama Villain, a film Kamal wrote that remains close to his heart, and is readying for his third film this year, Thoongavanam, also being made in Telugu. This year is one his busiest in recent memory. The last time he had three releases in a single year was in 1994 with a diverse a repertoire that included Mahanadhi, Magalir Mattum and Nammavar.

In many ways, there is a continuity and evolution some 21 years later as Papanasam talks of an equally disturbing theme as Mahanadhi, where he played a villager fighting child-trafficking.

Haasan spoke to City Times about his new film, and more.

In the past few years, you have been focused on doing original films, written or directed by you. Why then did you choose to do a remake?

In my career I have done several remakes, including blockbuster films such as Munnabhai MBBS (made in Tamil as Vasool Raja MBBS) or of relatively lesser known films such as Govind Nihalani’s Drohkal (Kuruthipunal). If I was not convinced of Papanasam, I would not have accepted the movie.

With Papanasam, it is also a sort of return to Malayalam, if you may, working with several actors and technicians from Kerala...

I have never seen Kerala as another state or people to whom I have to ‘return.’ Across my body of work, I have been associated with a number of technicians and actors from the state. I do not make any deliberate choices about these things; it is the talent that matters.

Your role in Papanasam is bound to be compared with Mohanlal’s in Drishyam...

In classical music, different musicians sing the same keerthanas. What you look for is not how one performs over the others; it is how each musician interprets the song. That is how I see it. Every actor brings to a role his or her character and individuality.

Are you more relaxed now as compared to when you were preparing for the release of Uttama Villain? You sounded rather tense then...

(Laughs) Not at all. I was running a fever then. I am equally at ease now as when I was promoting Uttama Villain. I have outgrown the era of stage fright (before the release of films).

But there is a difference. Unlike any of your recent films, Papanasam has not raised any controversy so far other than a minor one about you not wearing a helmet while riding a bike. Does that surprise you?

Now that Uttama Villain has been released, tell me, what were all those controversies about? It all just shows the absurdity of people who use films as a free platform for controversy. It is so silly. In fact, there were controversies even when Vasool Raja released. But tell me, how many doctors use their profession to serve people without consideration of money? What is wrong in pointing out a social wrong? It was the same scenario with Dashavatharam when some people started a whole smear campaign without understanding what we were saying and without even seeing the film.

How do you react to the controversy about you not using a helmet?

Cinema is a slice of life but that does not mean you copy everything you see in films. I believe that people understand how films are made; there are at least ten people to make sure that I do not suffer an injury when I am doing a scene that involves any risk – even if it is riding a bike without a helmet.

Drishyam, however, generated a major stir after its release with almost every crime committed in the state being attributed to the film and about how it has helped criminals in their planning. Do you see a similar backlash now with Papanasam?

Cinema is often a mirror that brings out the ugliness of society. You cannot blame your reflection because that is what you are.

I think it is absurd to put any form of art – be it cinema or literature - in the dock for social evils. If so, take our epics with stories of mass murders and bride burning. Are you going to blame the epics? Are you going to say, they are to be blamed for what then happens in the society?

Let us set aside the epics. Which film was the reason we had Hitler? Which film was the reason we had Genghis Khan build pyramids with skulls and play Lego with human bodies? All these controversies are by people who want to take a free ride to popularity and films give them a very strong popular platform to do so.

Almost 20 years ago, you did Mahanadhi, a film in which you played a villager – a role similar to your part in Papanasam – and spoke of the very disturbing issue of child-trafficking. Papanasam has a similar milieu...

The similarity ends with the milieu of the villager... everything else is different. Papanasam is about a modus operandi. This also takes us back to the earlier question of films versus life.

Such films, even for example Indian, embody the pedestrian dream; there might be anger and fury within people against the system but no one goes out and takes revenge just after watching a film.

You have had a busy year. What can we expect of your next film, Thoongavanam?

It is going to be a racy thriller that will give you an adrenaline high.

And lastly, now that the controversy surrounding Uttama Villain is done and dusted, do you agree with the observation that the film is autobiographical? After all, you have gone on record stating how much you dislike biographies and you will never write one...

Uttama Villain is not at all autobiographical; it is the lives of actors, several of them. You cannot differentiate or attribute the film to one actor.

[irir123]

what is this news about Kamal doing a film for Linguswamy with Singeetham Srinivas Rao as the director?

[Adox]

what is this news about Kamal doing a film for Linguswamy with Singeetham Srinivas Rao as the director?

Read that ... Believe its a small budget comedy movie with Crazy Mohan like Panchathantiram. Mostly to try relieve Lingu of his money problems.

Nammavar tries to help out folks in need if he could. PN was also to help out Sripriya who was in loses from her production of Malini Palayamkottai.

[rsubras]

Read that ... Believe its a small budget comedy movie with Crazy Mohan like Panchathantiram. Mostly to try relieve Lingu of his money problems.

Nammavar tries to help out folks in need if he could. PN was also to help out Sripriya who was in loses from her production of Malini Palayamkottai.

Nammavar and Maharasan were done for the same reason I suppose (I remember him saying Nammavar was a waste of his time and energy, not sure about the reason though)